How we eat and how we approach food in all the glory it brings is what really matters. Regardless of the type of diet regimen that you think you need, you must put into consideration the pace of your body first. Not everybody is built to last all forms of Detox. Not all detox are created equal.

Also, there’s taste. It follows us around. Our attitude towards eating are more or less set to stone. We all go through frequent attempts to change what we eat. But if you think about it more, we almost put no effort to change how we feel about food. When we say feel, we mean how we deal with the emotion associated with hunger. Our attachment to addictive sugar. When we are in a restaurant, how we respond to portions smaller than what we expected being served to us. We try to eat more greens, but we actually do not try to make and make ourselves enjoy vegetables more. Is it at all possible to acquire new tastes and shed old ones? Can we find a way to want to eat the food that’s good for us?

Nothing could be further from the truth. But we deal with the reality that comes with the effect of not eating right anyway. One day we can do a 10-mile run like a breeze the next it’s a labor to walk up the flight of stairs. Bodies collapse if we don’t take care of it. And eating is the ultimate expression of care.  How do we persuade ourselves to make better food choices?

We have been looking for answers in the wrong places. The way we eat is not a question of worthiness but of routine and preference built over a lifespan. If we are going to change our diets, we first have to relearn the art of eating, which is a question of psychology as much as nutrition. We have to find a way to want to eat what’s good for us. Most of us eat what we like and we only like what we know. If we can accept that eating is a learned behaviour, we’ll start seeing that the real challenge is learning new habits. For our diets to change, as well as educating ourselves about nutrition, we need to relearn the food experiences that first shaped us. The change doesn’t happen through rational argument. It is a form of reconditioning, meal by meal. While in the process of unlearning, you can start on a few of these foods with impressive detoxifying and slimming properties:

Blackberries
Controlling hormones is one of its greatest qualities. The feeling of hunger we get is controlled by a specific hormone called Ghrelin. A Canadian study showed that if you infuse your body with insoluble fiber, that same fiber present in Blackberries, the level of Ghrelin also increases which stops you from feeling hungry all the time. It’s a natural cleanser and helps you put a curb on cravings.

Cocoa Powder
The raw form of cocoa combats bloating and sneaks more fiber into your diet while simultaneously quieting your chocolate cravings. Especially during colder months, try mixing two tablespoons of cacao powder into hot water for a healthy, filling spin on hot cocoa that packs in 4 grams of fiber.

Bananas
Fighting back gas and water retention is as easy as biting into a banana. If you eat it twice daily as a snack before meal, it reduces bloating by 30-50%. Its quality to provide a generous amount of potassium can help diminish water retention. And we all know how bloating can banish those hard-earned muscles, especially on the abs area.

Spinach
This one wards off hunger too and it does it naturally. Greens usually contain appetite suppressant compounds like Thylakoids. Add spinach to your omelet or sandwich and you’d be filled up without filling out.

Mustard
Not a lot of people are aware of this but mustard is an incredible metabolism booster. Most of us have them stored in the refrigerator but we don’t really use them as much as we should. Just taking in at least one teaspoon will boost your metabolism by more than 20%. Baste it with your marinade like fish fillet or any healthy meat delights that you enjoy and boost your calorie burn all the more. You need protein to burn calories and by combining that with mustard you’ll be hitting your body goals in no time.